1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to clamps and, in particular, to clamps attached to end effectors associated with robotic devices. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for attaching elastomeric clamping feet to the edges of clamps.
2. Background
Building a fuselage may include assembling skin panels and a support structure for the fuselage. The skin panels and support structure may be joined together to form a fuselage assembly. For example, without limitation, the skin panels may have support members, such as frames and stringers, attached to the surface of the skin panels that will face the interior of the fuselage assembly. These support members may be used to form the support structure for the fuselage assembly. The skin panels may be positioned relative to each other and the support members may be tied together to form this support structure.
Fastening operations may then be performed to join the skin panels and the support members together to form the fuselage assembly. These fastening operations may include, for example, riveting operations, interference-fit bolting operations, other types of attachment operations, or some combination thereof. The fuselage assembly may need to be assembled in a manner that meets outer mold line (OML) requirements and inner mold line (IML) requirements for the fuselage assembly.
With some currently available methods for building a fuselage assembly, the fastening operations performed to assemble the skin panels and the support members together may be performed manually. For example, without limitation, a first human operator positioned at an exterior of the fuselage assembly and a second human operator positioned at an interior of the fuselage assembly may use handheld tools to perform these fastening operations. In some cases, this type of manual fastening process may be more labor-intensive, time-consuming, ergonomically challenging, or expensive than desired. Further, some current assembly methods used to build fuselages that involve manual fastening processes may not allow fuselages to be built in the desired assembly facilities or factories at desired assembly rates or desired assembly costs.
Some current assembly methods may use clamps to perform certain types of fastening processes. For example, without limitation, clamps may be used to hold two parts in place relative to each other such that the two parts may be fastened together. In some cases, a clamp may be comprised of a material that may have an undesired effect on the surface of a part when the clamp is used to apply a clamping force on the part. For example, the clamp may be comprised of a material, such as a metallic material, that may scratch, mar, bend, or otherwise affect the surface of a part in an undesired manner. Consequently, it may be desirable to have a clamp that can apply a clamping force to a part without having an undesired effect on the surface of the part. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that take into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.